Yarn crimping apparatus



Nov. 3, 1959 Filed larch 27, 1957 R. sA. aLl-:Y 2,910,761

YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheetl .1

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ATTORNEY Nov. 3, 1959 R. s. BLEY 2,910,751

YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filed 'uarch 2v, 1957 s sheets-sheet 2 INVENTORBY M ATTORNEY Nov. 3, 1959 R. s. BLEY YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filedlatch 27, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 NNN United States Patent O YARN CRIMPINGAPPARATUS Rudolph S. Bley, Milligan College, Tenn Beaunit Mills,Incorporated, New York, ration of New York assigner to X., a corpo-'Ihis invention relates to the production of crimped thermoplastic yarnor, as it is better known, stretch yarn or stretch nylon. Moreespecially, it relates to apparatus for producing stretch yarn by thesocalled false twist method and in its more particular aspects theinvention is concerned with improved means for setting the twist orcrimp in the yarn. I

The general method of crimping thermoplastic yarn with which thisinvention deals involves a false twist spindle through which the yarnstrand passes while being pulled from a supply package. The false twistspindle is rotated at high speed and the yarn strand is so operated uponby the spindle that a twist is produced in a portion of the runninglength of said strand. The yarn is heated by external means in thatportion wherein it is twisted and since the yarn is of a thermoplasticnature, the heating causes it to become soft or somewhat plastic andupon cooling it retains the twist. This` is one of the commercialmethods of producing yarn having a high degree (approximately 100percent) of stretchability and almost complete recovery. As is wellknown, such yarn has been widely used for making socks, underclothingand other garments.

A plant producing stretch yarn by the method briey outlined or by anyother method for that matter, is not commercially feasible unless it hasseveral thousand spindles operating; that is, unless several thousandyarn strands are being operated upon simultaneously. As is the case withtextile plants generally, plants producing stretch yarn operatetwenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Because of the large number of strands being operated upon, the cost ofheating the strands to the extent necessary to set` the twist isconsiderable and it is therefore highly desirable to have an eflicientmeans for doing this. Any given plant may desire to produce yarns ofdifferent denier, either simultaneously or to change from on denier toanother from time to time, and what may be the most etlicientarrangement for heating a strand of a given denier may not be so for aditferent denier or indeed may not even be satisfactory for a diterentdenier.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an etticient meansfor uniformly heating a plurality of strands of thermoplastic yarn whilesaid strands are in twisted condition whereby the twist will be set inthe yarn.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved heatingdevice for use with the false twist method of crimping yarn wherein themaior portion of the device is used for all different deniers but whichhas elements which may be removed and replaced with other elements whenit is desired to change denier.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improvedheating device having replaceable elements lfor use with yarns ofditerent denier wherein the replaceable elements may be changed whilethe device in general is maintained at an elevated temperature.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of "ice the inventionwill become apparent as the description of certain preferred embodimentsthereof proceeds.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view over-all of one of the stations of a yarncrimping machine and showing the present invention incorporated therein,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement for circulatingheating fluid past a plurality of "stations,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on a larger scale showing a yarn heatingchamber constructed in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 4 is a view partially in section and partially in side elevationshowing a modified form of the invention and Fig. 5 is a plan view of acap element useful in carrying out the invention.

Since` the present invention deals wth only certain aspects of theover-all yarn crimping operation it will not be necessary to describethe entire operation in detail but same has been shown diagrammaticallyin Fig. l and will be briey described in order to further anunderstanding of the utility of this invention. The noncrimped yarn iswound on a pirn l0 mounted upon a rail 11 and the yarn strand 12 isdrawn from the pirn through a guide 13 and thence through a compensatingtension device 14 and through an eye in the end of a tension sensing andregulating arm 15 of the tension device. After leaving the eye in thearm 15, the yarn strand passes upward through a heating chambergenerally designated 16 and which will presently be described in detail.Located directly above the heating chamber 16 is a false twist spindle17 which may be of any suitable construction, the details of which arenot a part of the present invention. It will be understood that eachrotation of the false twist spindle inserts one turn of twist into theyarn strand and that the twist runs back along the strand through theheating chamber wherein the twist or crimp is set After leaving thespindle 17, the yarn passes through a pigtail guide 18 and a traversingguide 19 and onto a spool 20, said spool being driven to take up theyarn by a cork covered roller 21 which bears against the yarn in orderto pull the yarn strand at a constant speed.

Fig. l illustrates what has been referred to above as a station and inpractice a machine comprises a large number of stations arranged in twoparallel rows. For reasons well understood by those in the industry aplant cannot be operated economically unless it has a large number ofmachines and, what is more important as far as the present invention isconcerned, the plant must be operated on a twenty-four hour basis.

The heating chamber 16 comprises an inner container consisting of anupper shell 22 and lower shell 23 suitably secured together and dividedby a partition 24 into an upper compartment 25 and lower compartment 26.A plurality of cylindrical tubes 27 extend vertically through the innercontainer and are sealed thereto as indicated at 28 so that heating uidpassing through the compartments 25 and 26 cannot escape. As willpresently be explained, there are a number of compartments 25 and 26 foreach machine and each pair of compartments accommodates a number oftubes 27. There is a tube27 vertically aligned with each spindle 17.

For purposes of insulation, the shells 22 and 23 are surrounded by acasing 29 and suitable insulating material 30 is provided between theshells and the casing. 'Ihe tubes 27 extend through the casing 29 andsaid tubes serve to support the-shells 22 and 23 within the casing bymeans of collars 31 and 32 which fit around the upper and lower ends ofthe tubes and which are held tightly against the top and bottomrespectively of the casing by means of snap rings 33 and 34 which fitinto grooves provided therefor in said tubes. The collars 31 and 32 aremade of porcelain or other heat insulating material and, as best shownin ..gs. 3 and 4, the openings in the casing for accommodating the tubesare larger than the tubes so that the heat of the tubes will not betransmitted to the casing.

Since the amount of heat applied to the yarn while the yarn is twistedis one of the factors which determines the degree of crimp set in theyarn, it is desirable that each strand, if all strands are of the samedenier, be heated to the same extent and for that reason the arrangementshown diagrammatically in Fig. 2 is employed. While Fig. 2 shows onlysix heating chambers 16 each provided with four tubes 27, in actualpractice there are a great deal more than six chambers and each chambermay accommodate more than four tubes, but the showing of Fig. 2 issufficient to illustrate the principle. To further simplify the showing,the other casings 29 have been omitted from Fig. 2.

Heating fluid preferably a liquid of high specific heat, for exampleoil, is introduced by means of a pipe 35 into the lower compartment 26of the first chamber 16 of the series wherein said tiuid contacts thelower portions of the tubes 27 of that chamber. The lower compartments26 are connected in series by short pipes as shown in Fig. 2 and thelower compartment of the last chamber 16 is connected by a pipe 36 tothe upper compartment 25 of that chamber. The upper compartments arealso connected in series as illustrated and the upper compartment of thefirst of the series of chambers 16 is connected by a pipe 37 to thesource of the heating uid, where the uid is reheated for recirculationthrough pipe 35. By means of a suitable pump the heating uid is thuscirculated first through the lower compartments of the series ofchambers and returned by way of the upper compartments. With such anarrangement it will be apparent that even though the temperature of theheating Huid drops a certain amount in each compartment as it circulatesthrough each of the lower and upper comcnts of the series of chambers,the average temof all chambers (i.e., the average of the temr tures ofthe lower and the upper compartments of each chamber) will be the sameand consequently the average temperature in all the tubes 27 will be thesame.

After the heating fluid is brought up to the desired temperature and hascirculated through the heating chambers for awhile the tubes 27 becomequite hot. While it takes a large amount of energy to bring the tubes tothe desired temperature,l it takes a comparatively small amount tomaintain them at that temperature so it is of course desirable, andpractical since the yarn processing plant operates on a twenty-four hourbasis, to maintain the tubes 27 in heated condition at all times.

However, it has been previously mentioned that while the plant operatescontinuously, it is desired from time to time to process yarns ofdifferent denier and sometimes to process simultaneously yarns ofdifferent denier. It will be apparent that a cylindrical tube such asthe tubes 27 which has a certain predetermined diameter is not suitableby itself for providing the proper degree of heat for more than alimited range of denier of yarn unless the temperature of the heatingfluid is changed to suit the different deniers. As has already beenmentioned the temperature of all the tubes 27 is always the same becauseof the manner in which the heating uid is circulated around them andtherefore it is obvious that the arrangement thus far described couldonly be used for yarns having a limited range of denier at any one time.Also because of the expense factor it is not practicable to vary thetemperature of the heating fluid.

To overcome the limitations of the device thus far described, thepresent invention provides adapters in the form of removable andreplaceable cartridges which fit snugly within the tubes 27 and whichare variously con- 4 structed to provide varying degrees of heat foryarn strands passing therethrough.

One form of cartridge is illustrated in Fig. 3 and comprises acylindrical tube 38 which is adapted to fit snugly within thecylindrical tube 27. The tube 38 is provided with a cap 39 which restson top of thetube 27 to prevent the tube 38 from slipping therethrough.The cap 39 is provided with indentations 40 for accommodating a suitabletool whereby the cartridge may be removed.

Force fitted within the tube 38 and secured to the cap 39 thereof is amember 4l having bulbous portions 42 which provide the force fit andhaving a longitudinally extending bore of a size such that the yarnstrand 12 may pass freely through said member without contacting same.The wall of the tube 38 may be quite thin as may the wall of the member41 so that the heat of the tube 27 may readily be conducted therethroughto heat the air within the member 41 and consequently heat the yarnstrand. To further provide for etlcient heating of the yarn the innersurface of the member 41 may be blackened so as to give off infraredrays. The member 41 and the tube 38 may be formed of anodized aluminum,copper or brass or preferably of Karbate. This latter material has anoutstanding thermal conduction characteristic. It is a composition ofcarbon and graphite impregnated with a synthetic resin and is describedin an article by L. C. Werking in Trans. Amer. Instit. Chem. Engrs.,vol. 35, pp. 489-503 (1939) under the title: Carbon, Graphite andKarbate as Materials of Construction.

As the yarn strand moves rapidly up through the member 41 it has atendency to draw air up through said member with the result that theheated air within said member would be quickly dissipated and its heatlost were it not for the bulbous portions 42 which cause the air toswirl around and move slowly through said members. By varying the numberand shape of the bulbous portions 42 the flow of air through member 41can be controlled to thereby control the amount of heating of the yarnstrand, the temperature of the heating uid within the compartments 25and 26 remaining constant. It will be recognized that increasing thenumber or the size of the bulbous portions 42 will increase the rate ofheat transfer into member 41 and will also reduce the heat loss fromthis member.

With this arrangement it will be seen that when it is desired to changethe denier of the yarn being crimped, it is merely necessary to withdrawthe cartridge from the tube 27 and replace it with one appropriatelyformed for heating the new denier. It will not be necessary to changethe cartridge for minor variations in denier but only when substantiallydifferent yarn is to be processed, for example, in changing from tinedenier yarn suitable for stockings to high denier yarn for textilefabrics, etc. By using a suitable tool for cooperating with theindentations 40 of the cap 39 the cartridge can be lifted out while theheating system is hot.

To further increase the eliiciency of the device by slowing the movementof air through the cartridge, a cap 43 is provided. As best shown inFigs. 4 and 5 the cap 43 is made in two sections which are secured tothe top of the casing 29 by hinges 44 and 45 so that the cap sectionsmay be folded back out of the Way when it is desired to change thecartridge. During threading up ,of the device, it is only necessary tofold back one of the sections of the cap in order to permit easyinsertion of a thread-up twire into the top of the member 41 of thecartridge.

The cap 43 is provided with an opening 54 at the top thereof, saidopening being vertically aligned with the central bore of the member 41whereby the yarn strand can move in a straight-line path between -theheating device and the false twist spindle. A baille 46 secured intsidethe cap 43 is so shaped as to tend to redirect the air escaping from themember 41 back down into said member.

Since only that portion of the yarn strands which is v directly abovethe false twist spindle and the other being located closely below thebottom of the heating chamber. Suitable barriers for this purpose arepairs of rollers which press the yarn strand therebetween and preventthe twist from passing through. In Fig. l, one such barrier is formed bythe rollers 47 and 48 located above the false twist spindle 17 and whichmay be spring urged together or may be made magnetically attractive toone another. The lower barrier is formed by a similar pair of rollers 49and 50.

A modified form of cartridge is illustrated in Fig. 4. This cartridgecomprises a cylindrical 'tube 5l having a cap 52 and force fitted withinwhich and secured to said cap is a member 53 having a spiralconfiguration. The spiral shape of the member 53 causes the air movingupward therethrough to move in a spiral path and consequently remainwithin said member for a considerable period of time. The member 53 hasa longitudinally extending bore through which the yarn strand l2 passeswithout touching said member. By changing the pitch of the spiral theamount of time that the air remains within the member 53 can beregulated. Clearly, increasing the pitch of the spiral will retard themovement of the air through the member and reducing the pitch willpermit more rapid air movement. The member 53 and tube 5l may of coursebe made of the same material as is the cartridge illustrated in Fig. 3and previously described. The modified form shown in Fig. 4 offers anadvantage in efficiency over the form shown in Fig. 3 inasmuch as thereis a greater area of contact between the member 53 and tube 51, and thusmore efficient heat transfer into the tube, than there is between thecorresponding parts of the cartridge of Fig. 3.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. For use in yarn crimping apparatus having a heating chambercomprising a cylindrical tube surrounded by heating liuid and having afalse twist device which puts a twist in the yarn in the heating chamberwherein the twist is set in the yarn; an adapter cartridge for adaptingthe heating chamber for eicient heating of yarn having a particularrange of denier, and cartridge comprising a cylindrical member adaptedto fit snugly within the cylindrical tube of the heating chamber, asecond member positioned within said cylindrical member, said secondmember having a straight-line bore therethrough whereby a yarn strandmay be drawn therethrough without touching said member, said bore havinga diameter considerably smaller than the internal diameter of saidcylindrical member, and said second member having portions protrudingoutwardly from said bore and into engagement with said cylindricalmember whereby heat applied to said cylindrical member will be conductedto the bore of said second member.

2. For use in yarn crimping apparatus having a heating chambercomprising a cylindrical tube surrounded by heating fluid and having afalse twist device which puts a twist in the yarn in the heating chamberwherein the twist is set in the yarn; an adapter cartridge for adaptingthe heating chamber for eicient heating of yarn having a particularrange of denier, said cartridge comprising a cylindrical member adaptedto t snugly within the cylindrical tube of the heating chamber, a secondmember positioned within said cylindrical member, said second memberhaving a stright-line bore therethrough whereby a yarn strand may bedrawn therethrough without touching said member, said bore having adiameter considerably smaller than the internal diameterV of saidcylindrical member, said second member having portions protrudingoutwardly from said bore and into engagement with said cylindricalmember whereby heat applied to said y cylindrical member will beconducted to the bore of said second member, and a cap securing saidsecond memberv to said cylindrical member at one end thereof.

3. For use in yarn crimping apparatus having a heating chambercomprising a cylindrical tube surrounded by heating tiuid and having afalse twist device which puts a twist in the yarn in the heating chamberwherein the twist is set in the yarn; an adapter cartridge for adaptingthe heating chamber for etlicient heating of yarn having a particularrange of denier, said cartridge comprising a cylindrical member adaptedto fit snugly within the cylindrical tube of the heating chamber, asecond member positioned within said cylindrical member, said secondmember having a straight-line bore therethrough whereby a yarn strandmay be drawn therethrough without touching said member, said bore havinga diameter considerably smaller than the internal diameter of saidcylindrical member, said second member having portions protrudingoutwardly from said bore and into engagement with said cylindricalmember whereby heat applied to said cylindrical member will be conductedto the bore of said second member, a cap securing said second member tosaid cylindrical member at one end thereof, and said cap having aportion overhanging said cylindrical member to prevent said cartridgefrom dropping through the cylindrical tube of the heating chamber whensaid cartridge is positioned therein.

4. For use in yarn crimping apparatus having a heating chambercomprising a cylindrical tube surrounded by heating fluid and having afalse twist device which puts a twist in the yarn in the heating chamberwherein the twist is set in the yarn; an adapter cartridge for adaptingthe heating chamber for efficient heating of yarn having a particularrange of denier, said cartridge range of denier, said cartridgecomprising a cylindrical mem` ber adapted to fit snugly within thecylindrical tube of the heating chamber, a second member positionedwithin said cylindrical member, said second member having astraight-line bore therethrough whereby a yarn strand may be drawntherethrough without touching said member, said bore having a diameterconsiderably smaller than the internal diameter of said cylindricalmember, said second member having portions protruding outwardly fromsaid bore and into engagement with :said cylindrical member whereby heatapplied to said cylindrical member will be conducted to the bore of saidsecond member, a cap securing said second member to said cylindricalmember at one end thereof, said cap overhanging said cylindrical memberto prevent said cartridge from dropping through the cylindrical tube ofthe heating charnber when said cartridge is positioned therein, and saidcap having means for the reception of a tool whereby said cartridge maybe removed from the heating chamber while the chamber and cartridge arehot.

5. For use in yarn crimping apparatus having a heating chambercomprising a cylindrical tube surrounded by heating uid and having afalse twist device which puts a twist in the yarn in the heating chamberwherein the twst is set in the yarn; an improved heating chambercomprising a cylindrical tube mounted in a container for heating uid,means for circulating heating fluid through said container whereby saidtube is maintained at an elevated temperature, an adapter cartridge foradapting the heating chamber for efficient heating of yarn having aparticular range of denier, said cartridge comprising a thin walledcylindrical member adapted to t snugly within the cylindrical tube ofthe heating chamber, a thin walled second member longitudinallycoextensive with said cylindrical member positioned within saidcylindrical member, said second member having a straight-line boretherethrough whereby a yarn strand may be drawn therethrough withouttouching said member, said second member having portions protrudingoutwardly from said bore and into engagement with said cylindricalmember whereby-heat applied. by said cylindrical tube to saidcylindrical member is conducted to the bore of said second member, a capsecuring said cylindrical member to said second member, said capoverhanging said cylindrical member to prevent said cartridge fromfalling through said cylindrical tube, and said cap having means for thereception of a tool whereby said cartridge may be removed from saidcylindrical tube while said heating chamber is hot.

6. An adapter cartridge as set forth in claim l in which said secondmember has bulbous portions protruding outwardly from said bore and intoengagement with said cylindrical member whereby heat applied to saidcylindrical member will be conducted to the bore of said second member.

7. An adapter cartridge as set forth in claim 1 in which said secondmember has a spiral portion protruding outwardly from said bore and intoengagement with said cylindrical member whereby heat applied to saidcylindrical member will be conducted to the bore of said second member.

8. An adapter cartridge as set forth in claim 2 in which said cap has anair baille disposed about the upper end of said straight-line bote.

twist in the yarn in the heating chamber wherein the twist is set in theyarn; an adapter cartridge for adapting the heating chamber foretiicient heating of 'yarn having a particular range of denier, saidcartridge com prising a rst member adapted to t snugly within the tubeof the heating chamber, a second member positioned within said rstmember, said second member. having a straight-line bore therethroughwhereby a yarn strand may -be drawn therethrough without touching saidmember, said .bore being spaced apart from said first member, and saidsecond member having portions protruding outwardly from said bore andinto engagement with said rst member whereby heat applied to said rstmemwill be conducted to the bore of said second memlReferences Cited inthe tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

